Fred White (left) formed the patrol, apparently being approached by Colonel Russell, who was the commander of
the Purbeck Home Guard Company. Charlie Haysom was his assistant in the bakery. Later in the war, both men were
called up. Fred White joined a field bakery unit in Jan 1944, working just behind the front lines. Charlie Haysom
went to the Highland Light Infantry in November 1942, before joining the Royal Engineers. Once his Aux Units
experience was known, he was transferred to the Assault Engineers, landing early on D-Day to clear the beaches of
obstacles. He also saw action at the Rhine Crossing and in the fierce fighting at Walcheran.

Douglas Norman was a quarryman who worked his own quarry and may also have worked part of the time at the nearby
Holton Heath munitions factory. His twin brother Ernie, unusually was not involved in the unit, but instead served
as a fireman in London during the Blitz. It is thought that Nelson Burt may have been a relation, since the
Norman’s mother’s maiden name was Burt.

Maurice Dallenger was an electrician who had gone to work at Hawker’s Kingston-upon-Thames plant building
Hurricanes. He suffered severe headaches from the doping chemicals and once the demand for fighters slowed, he was
released to stay with Aunt and Uncle on a farm in Langton Matravers to recover. He seems to have fitted in very
well, being chosen after only a year or so in the area to be a member of the patrol. He also subsequently married
the woman who became postmistress and they opened a shop in the village with her sister.

Nelson Burt doesn’t appear in the final nominal roll, compiled around the middle of 1943, so it is possible he
had left by this time, though he does appear in earlier records. Hedley Lander was much older and a military
veteran. Unusually he is recorded as having been conscripted to the Home Guard in December 1942. It is not known if
this was when he joined the unit, or if he had been a member all along and was conscripted to tidy up the
paperwork.

The Operational Base is located in woodland between Harman’s Cross and Langton Matravers on private land with no public access. The owner granted CART kind permission to
take pictures etc.

It consists of a standard buried Elephant shelter, though one end is walled off to create a separate chamber.
Through this there is access to a smaller chamber, apparently constructed from an Anderson shelter, that leads from
the main chamber to a vertical shaft. Another vertical shaft gives direct access to the main chamber.

The OB has been completely flooded for a number of years as the photos show. At times in the 1990s the OB dried
out enough to enter and the owner has provided photographs taken at that time. He was also visited by the late
Peter Weaver, then Lieutenant with the Dorset Regiment
Scout Section who said that he thought there had been an escape tunnel which was cut into the ground and revetted
and covered over. No trace of this remains.

Currently only one shaft is accessible, the other covered with material to prevent people accidently falling
into it.

The site was owned during the war by a man who was well known for not tolerating people on his property. He
lived in the house with his two maiden sisters and he was an officer in the Home Guard. The OB was apparently built
by Pioneers who came from Scotland. They entered the site
through a neighbour’s garden and didn’t come up the drive, perhaps to conceal what was happening. They seem to have
been successful as a local resident living just 50 yards away was unaware of the bunker until long after the
war.

They launched practice attacks on Warmwell airfield, breaking through the perimeter wire and also the TRE at
Worth Matravers. They prised apart the railings with a car jack and got in, closing the gap with a Spanish windlass
after they escaped, so nobody would know how they got in. They also broke into the Cordite Factory at Holton Heath,
laying a message on a desk to show they had been there. The troops guarding these installations were all carrying
live ammunition in their guns.

It is thought that these would have included the bridges on the road and railway in and out of Swanage. This
railway is now the Swanage Valley Railway.

The patrol were all issued with .32 Smith and Wesson revolvers. It is thought that these were ex-New York Police
issue.

They also had Tommy Guns, though these were later replaced with
Sten guns. Peter White, son of the patrol leader, recalls that these were
not the early type with a foregrip and drum magazine, but a later version with a stick magazine and no
foregrip.

The patrol also had a .22 Winchester sniper rifle, fitted with a
silencer and telescopic sights. This was used for rabbit shooting more than anything else! Peter White once picked
it up at home and accidently fired it, just missing his brother’s head with the bullet which lodged in the
stairs
The patrol did not have ordinary rifles at all.

The men all had Fairbairn Sykes commando daggers.

They were issued with the usual selection of explosives equipment. They had plastic explosive before the
regulars had it and also ammonal. The explosives were delivered
to Fred White’s house by lorry in the middle of the night. There were so many Army lorries in the area that this
was not unusual. Peter White remembers that a Sgt Bridges fro the Grenadier Guards visited several times to deliver
equipment and also returned in 1944 when his regiment returned from North Africa. The patrol used to practice in an
old quarry, Crack Lane Quarry, which had shut down just before the war having gone bankrupt. They practiced cutting
RSJs with explosive charges and blowing open the storage tanks with chains of charges. The area was subsequently
used as an assault course by military, though not before some trouble resulted from having damaged the equipment.
Though the number of quarrymen might suggest that they were familiar with explosives, the type of stone quarrying
practised in the Purbecks made no use of these and was almost entirely manual.

What remained of the demolition equipment was disposed of by Peter White in the 1980s during a Police amnesty.
All that survived was a single capsule of the corrosive acid from a time pencil, found in the floodwater at the
bottom of the OB, the rest of the time pencil having corroded away.

The acid vial from a time pencil. After discovery, it was sent by the Police to Porton Down to try and find out
what it was.

About 6 months after his father died, Martyn Dallenger had a knock at the door from Fred Simpson, Sergeant of
the Creech Barrow patrol. He wanted to speak to Maurice, and
told Martyn of his involvement in Auxiliary Units. He had never heard anything of this from his father who had kept
the secret to his grave. In retrospect he remembers that he wore an Aux Units stand down badge (see below) on the
back side of his jacket lapel, such that it could only be seen by turning the lapel forwards.

Peter White still has his father’s stand down badge

Fred White’s well worn Stand Down badge.

After the war, Douglas Norman worked in London helping with reconstruction work. He was selected to help repair
the House of Parliament, due to his stone working skills.

A memorial stone was being erected in Langton Matravers to remember these men and all who served during the
war. CART helped with a display about Auxiliary Units in the village hall on the day. More here.